Genus NETTAPUS. 



Bill small, very high at the base, narrowing towards the tip ; nostrils oval, placed close to 

 the culrnen ; nail gently curved ; lamellee distant, except at the base, where they narrow and 

 change their direction. Wings lengthened, pointed ; 1st quill considerably the longest ; tertials 

 lengthened. Tail broad, cuneate, of 12 feathers. Tarsus much shorter than the middle toe. 

 Feet large, claws much curved. 



Of diminutive size. 



NETTAPUS COROMANDELIANUS. 



(THE GREEN-BACKED GOOSE-TEAL.) 



Anas coromandeliana, Gmel. ed. Syst. Nat. i. p. 522 (1788). 



Anas girra, Lath., apud Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. ii. pi. 68 (1832). 



Dendrocygna affinis, Jerdon, Cat. Madr. Journ. 1840, xii. p. 219 (winter dress). 



Nettapus corommdelianus (Gm.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 302 (1849) ; Kelaart, 

 Prodromus, Cat. p. 136 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 269 ; 

 Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 786 (1864). 



Nettopus coromandelianus, Hume, Str. Feath. 1878, p. 486 (B. of Tenass.), et 1879, p. 114 

 (List of Ind. B.). 



Nettapus coromandelicus (Gm.), Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 638 (1875). 



Anserella coromandeliana (Gm.), Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 479 ; Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 407. 



Coromandel Teal, Lath. ; Sarcelle de la cote de Coromandel, Buff. PL Enl. 949, 950 ; Girra 

 Teal, Gray & Hardw. ; The Cotton-Teal, Green-backed Teal, Bice-Teal, Europeans ; 

 Pigmy Goose of some. Girja, Girri, Hind. ; Ghangerel, Bengal. ; Bajah-Tara, lit. " King- 

 Duck," Ceylonese Tamils. 



Mal-Saaru, lit. " Flower-Teal," Sinhalese. 



Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 12-5 to 13-0 inches ; wing 6-4 to 0-8; tail 3-0 to 3-2; tarsus 1-0 to 1-1 ; 



bill, gape to nail (straight) 1*15 to 1-2. 

 Iris crimson or red (variable in hue); bill greenish black, pale at base of upper mandible, and yellowish fleshy at base 



of lower ; tibia and exterior of tarsus with the webs brown, inside of tarsus, toes, and part of web adjacent 



yellowish olive. 



/. eeding-plumage. Forehead, centre of head, and nape blackish brown, the feathers often pale-tipped ; rest of head, 

 neck, breast, and all beneath to the vent white ; a black ring, tinged above with green, completely encircling the 

 hind neck and lower fore neck, the feathers above it with the bases brownish, and the flanks stippled openly or 

 " dusted" with brown ; back, scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts dark metallic green, the bases of the back and 

 scapulars glossy purple, this colour predominating in parts, and changing on the rump into a duller greenish and 

 purple tint ; secondaries fine metallic green, with the terminal half-inch white ; primaries (mostly) and their 

 coverts green-black, the middle part of the longer feathers being white, which extends across and includes the 

 tips of the inner ones : shorter upper tail-coverts brown, paling to greyish on the longer, the whole stippled with 

 small dots; tail brown, with a greenish gloss, and sometimes tipped pale; vent and under tail-coverts brown, 

 the basal half of the feathers white ; axillaries and under wing dark green. 



Mai' id it-;,,!,-,- (November). Differs from male in summer in having the hind neck brownish, and in having a zone of 

 transverse marks or bars across the front and sides of the neck, instead of the dark band ; the feathers here are 



